The second Act of the Pallas Capital Gold Cup for the TP52 Australia class took part alongside SailFest from the Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club on 22-23 March. Gordon Ketelbey’s Zen was welcomed back to the fleet as they continued their Admiral’s Cup preparations, showing good form following some recent modifications and the addition of some new faces to the team including Chris Nicholson as Tactician and Tom Addis in Navigation.

The opening Act of the Pallas Capital Gold Cup for the TP52 Australia class as part of the Nautilus Marine Insurance Sydney Harbour Regatta on 1-2 March saw 2024 winner David Doherty’s Matador start their defence in style, winning on both IRC and TPR.

The Pallas Capital Gold Cup for TP52's in Australia will commence with Act 1 in Sydney as part of the Sydney Harbour Regatta on March 1 and 2.

In stunning sailing conditions, the Pallas Capital Gold Cup concluded from the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club today, with David Doherty’s Matador reinforcing their position at the top of the leaderboard to take Act 4 on both TPR and IRC, and to win the Pallas Capital Gold Cup overall.

The finale of the Pallas Capital TP52 Gold Cup started in sporty conditions with sensational racing from all eleven entrants, with reports of over 25 knots of boat speed, in a blustery southerly at times blowing over 30 knots on Pittwater.

The Australian TP52 fleet returned to action at Sail Port Stephens for Act 3 of the Pallas Capital Gold Cup. Eleven boats took to the waters surrounding Nelson Bay and completed the series of six races. The TP52s also formed Division One of the NSW IRC State Championships, resulting in both the primary TPR and IRC handicapping systems being hotly contested.

Act 3 of the Pallas Capital Gold Cup marks the second half of the series and David Doherty’s Matador, series leader after the first two Acts, was for the first time under serious pressure going into the final day, with Craig Neil’s Quest on equal points. Matador rose to the occasion and took their third win from as many events on TPR by two points over Quest, with Seb Bohm’s Smuggler pushing up to third overall.

David Doherty’s Matador took the win in a closely fought Act 1 of the Pallas Capital Gold Cup over the ten boat fleet this weekend, sailed from the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia.

The tight racing, mini-battles throughout the fleet, and great tests of boat handling were the perfect start to what is set to be a hard raced Pallas Capital Gold Cup with just six points separating the top six boats under the TPR rule.